At $9,500, Could You See This 1974 Buick Apollo On Your Launch Pad?

Today's Nice Price or No Dice Apollo is twinsies with the contemporary Chevy Nova. This car even comes with a Chevy-like 350 V8 under the hood, albeit one from Buick, not the Bowtie Brigade. Let's see what this kissing cousin could rightfully be worth.

The Germans have long associated the letter "M" with intrigue and excitement. The German film director, Fritz Lang, chose to title his first sound film, 1932's "M," which stood for "Mörder or murderer. One of the earliest procedurals, the movie chronicles a city on the edge as it searches for a shadowy figure who preys on little girls. Character actor Peter Lorre, in only his third screen role, had the unenviable task of playing the villain.

Decades later, BMW chose M, this time for Motorsport, to anoint its highest performance models. On Monday, we looked at a 2017 BMW M2, the carmaker's smallest entry in its pantheon of performance cars. That car wore an eclectic pink vinyl wrap and carried a $31,777 asking price. Despite that being relatively low for the model in the current market, few of you found it, or the pink wrap, all that appealing. That ultimately proved evident in the 85% "No Dice" loss it suffered in our vote.

Storied as the son of Zeus and Leto, the Greek god Apollo was claimed to be one of the most handsome residents of Mount Olympus. Apollo was also considered something of a "Swiss Army Knife" of capabilities, being the patron saint of herdsmen, a protector of children, and, teaming with the Muses, the god of Music, which extended to poetry, dance, and likely beatboxing.

Being so flexible and easy on the eyes as Apollo reportedly was, it's no surprise that the name has found its way into our modern culture, once as NASA's space program that took humans to the Moon, and multiple times in the automotive world.

The 1974 Buick Apollo we're considering today is one of those efforts. Sold between 1973 and 1976, the Apollo was Buick's entry in the compact car category, and was little more than a slightly restyled and up-contented version of Chevy's Nova. It mirrored the Chevy's lineup, too, offering a two-door coupe, a four-door sedan, and a three-door hatch. The base engine for the Buick was also Chevy-sourced: a 250 CID straight six. As an option, however, the Apollo could be had with Buick's own 350 CID V8, which sported a two-barrel carburetor and offered 150 horsepower.

This Apollo is the two-door coupe, and has the 350 engine as indicated by both the badges on the fenders and a peek under the expansive hood. The VIN isn't listed in the ad, so we can't suss out where this particular car was built, but it's interesting to see that it's being offered for sale in Van Nuys, California. That's the same city where General Motors built these models, along with Novas, Pontiac Venturas, and many, many other models. That plant was razed in 1993, but it remains well known to GM gearheads.

Whether a homecoming or not, this Apollo represents a rare opportunity, as not very many have survived the half-century since arriving on the scene. This one, with a modest 58,390 miles, is described as being in "pretty good" condition, something supported by the pictures. Painted an arctic white, it seems solid, only marred by some surface rust poking through on the roof, some chipping on the front wheel arch, and a couple of idiosyncratic decals on the windows and driver's door. Those can stay with the seller. On the plus side are a set of handsome alloy wheels and period-appropriate BF Goodrich Radial T/A rubber.

There's more to like in the cabin. First off, this car maintains a layout—bench seats front and rear—that's just not offered anymore. A column shift for the THM350 automatic and an appreciably low transmission hump mean that the front bench can be used for three-across seating, just like the back.

Craigslist

Everything looks to be in great condition inside, although the added gauges and rear parcel shelf speakers may be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition for some. One thing also to note is the absence of air vents in the outer corners of the dashboard. That pegs this as a non-A/C car, an unfortunate situation somewhat ameliorated by the fact that all four of the side windows can be (manually) rolled up and down.

According to the ad, this is a "turnkey" car, although that boast is tempered by the advice that the engine "could use a tuneup." That might require some figuring out, as the engine appears to have a later-model coil-on-distributor ignition, suggesting it might have a few more tricks up its sleeve.

With a clean title and up-to-date tags, there won't be any time wasted at the DMV getting the car in a new owner's name, so that investigative work under the hood can commence immediately. That is, of course, if the car's $9,500 asking price proves sale-worthy. We'll now have to decide if it does. Being a bit of an oddball survivor and having been originally sold in far fewer numbers than Chevy's Nova works in the Buick's favor as a classic contender. Being a mid-level mid-sized coupe designed to appease 1970s middle-American tastes kind of works against it.

What's your opinion on this fairly rare Buick at that $9,500 price? Does that feel like a good deal to get on board the Apollo program? Or is that a price that only the gods could afford?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!

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